Mondays after a horse show…we all know the feeling. We usually enter back into the work force kicking and screaming, or maybe just in a quietly begrudging manner, hoping for a relatively uneventful day so we can recover.
Imagine our surprise when we asked AQHA and APHA competitors what jobs they return to on those inevitable Mondays, and we found that many of them hit the ground running without missing a step. Terms like 911 dispatcher, nurse, veterinarian, and forensic scientist profoundly rang in our ears and inspired GoHorseShow.com to reveal a glimpse of some of these careers.
Read on for the first of two in this series about the competitors who are on the front lines for both people and animals.
Dr. Candice Hall – Small Animal Veterinarian
Everyone who shows AQHA knows Candice as mom and proud owner of the stallion, Machine Made. However, many may not envision her in scrubs performing an emergency C-section for a border collie with two big pups (pictured here). In fact, Candice has developed her veterinary career motto of “Roll with the Punches,” because of the necessity of a sense of humor in her rewarding, challenging and interesting profession.
“In a regular day, I may need to be a doggy dentist, surgeon, dermatologist, oncologist, radiologist, internal medicine specialist or even a pet therapist. There is no routine day. While most days I see dogs and cats, I have been known to treat guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, pot belly pigs, lizards, and the occasional horse that pulls into the parking lot,” declares Candice.
However, her day can get even more intense with emergency situations. “I recently treated a little dog that had fallen into the owner’s pool, they found him ‘drowned’ at the bottom and brought him to the clinic, blue and unresponsive. After an hour of oxygen therapy and warming him up, he jumped to his feet and started barking his head off, wanting to go home,” she exclaims. She also has seen her share of dogs and cats eating things they shouldn’t like a cat that swallowed a needle. “I also once removed five golf balls from a dog’s stomach, and only one was new. The others had been there for months.”
Hall adds that her job can be extremely emotional too. “Telling people their pets have cancer, or that despite our best efforts, we can’t cure kidney failure, glaucoma, cardiomyopathy and helping people say goodbye when needed, is very difficult for me. My love of horses, and the enjoyment I get from the horse shows, helps balance out the stress and sadness in my professional life, which helps prevent professional burnout, after 20 years of being a veterinarian,” she says.
Candice is still able to strike a balance despite her work at her clinic in British Columbia, Canada. “My husband (Dentist Dr. Cory Seebach) and I are lucky enough to own our practices and be able to travel extensively to horse shows with trainers Gil Galyean and Kristy McCann. It is a constant balance of being at work, flying off to a show, then flying back, often late Sunday night and being at work first thing Monday morning. Being with our friends and horses at the shows is a huge part of our lives, but we also love coming home to our border collies, cats and horses here. We also believe in the motto, ‘Work Hard, Play Hard!’”
Cassie Gaarder – 911 Dispatcher
Can you say adrenaline? For Cassie, who has shown in APHA All-Around events for over 20 years, it’s the rush of her job that keeps her hooked. As a 911 dispatcher who prefers to work the graveyard shift for the Glendale, Arizona Police Department, she finds she sees the most action at night. (pictured left)
When asked how her job is outside the norm of a typical day, Cassie explains there’s no such thing. “When that phone rings you never know what is on the other end. The heart wrenching calls are real and happen every day. The most unforgettable for me was when a male caller uttered to me that he had just stabbed to death his wife and two kids. I had to stay on the line with him to get details, keep him from leaving the house or killing himself or going back to finish off his four year-old son who was actually still alive. It was the longest five minutes of my life. In the end, the officers took the husband into custody, immediately started rescue on the four year-old and whisked him away to the hospital. The four year-old survived and the man is serving life in prison with no chance of parole.”
At her high stress 12-hour-a-day job, Cassie wears a lot of hats because, for one thing, her shoes are hard to fill. ”I have been part of the Tactical Dispatch unit in which a dispatcher is the dedicated dispatcher for all of our Arizona Cardinals football games, including working the Fiesta Bowl and Super Bowl and any other major events that pack a crowd at the University of Phoenix Stadium. I have gone out with the SWAT team on barricade situations, search warrants and their training scenarios (think active shooter). But the main goal of my job is helping people, directing them and most importantly taking care of my officers. A dispatcher is truly the first on scene,” says Cassie.
She cites being on call 24/7 for SWAT as a Tactical Dispatcher as fun, but eye-opening. “The worst part is that even though I’m with all those guys in their body armor gear, guns and K9’s, you would think I’m safe, but no, I’m a sitting duck with nothing but my radio and writing pad or computer. One time I was left alone in a Sergeant’s vehicle on one callout while they approached and surrounded a house; this was out in the middle of the desert 45 minutes away from Phoenix. All I could think was if that suspect breaks through the line, he’s heading straight for the vehicle that has the engine running, which is where I was. Even though I knew it wouldn’t happen, it’s a fleeting thought that I had. And, of course, they caught the bad guy.”
How does Cassie, a do-it-yourself amateur with her equine partner in crime, Dynamic Debut, find time for showing? “I’m very thankful that I can balance my job and enjoy my horses every day. Because I sleep during the day, I don’t always get out to ride, but since I keep my horses at my house, I can at least go out and spend time with them. I have to plan my time off to attend shows based on my work schedule since I work odd days.”
Ashley Hadlock – Registered Nurse
All-Around AQHA Amateur Ashley Hadlock knows the ropes at shows as well as anyone, but she also knows her way around the cardiac step down unit as a registered nurse at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. “I take care of patients who usually come in with some type of chest pain, arrhythmia, or scheduled operations. A lot of the testing the patients undergo include: stress testing, heart catheterization/angiograms, ablation, cardio versions, pacemaker implants, pre-operations for valve replacements and open heart bypass surgery,” explains Ashley.
Like the others, she admits her day is never quite the same. But because of what she possibly faces each day, she arms herself with a magnanimous philosophy. “My job is different from a lot of jobs in the aspect of I never know what I may be walking into as anything can change in a moment’s time. I go into work thinking of how no patient wants to be there. Therefore, I’m already in the hole and my first impression is important as I want to make their day the best I can.”
Ashley also finds her work day is long, beginning at 6:30 A.M. and often ending at 7:15 P.M. or later. “My duties include medication passes through the day, assessing my patients at the beginning of shift and vital signs, and monitor for any changes during the shift, admitting and discharging. Of course there are critical moments that require intervention with the goal to keep the patient stable,” she says.
With long days like that, one might wonder how she possibly finds time to spend showing her horse, Touched N Moonlite. But just like her work philosophy, her outlook toward fitting in shows is just as positive. “One of the things I love the most about my job is the flexibility. Three 12-hour shifts is considered a full week, allowing more time off to ride, show, and travel. Being able to work the first of the week and having the weekend off for a horse show is wonderful. My work allows self-scheduling, which helps plan time off for a show.”
Sabrina Seehafer – Criminalist aka Forensic Scientist
Sabrina has spent her fair share of time in the spotlight, and recently was one of the first APHA World Champions in the Adult Walk Trot Division in 2014 on her horse, Sterling Expression. Behind the bubbly and always smiling exhibitor everyone knows and loves, however, lives also the heart and mind of a criminalist. Sabrina refers to herself as “that geeky science nerd.”
“My job title is a Criminalist with the State of Iowa DCI Crime Lab and my specialty is in forensic DNA analysis. In addition, I am a part of the Crime Scene Team. The primary duty of any forensic scientist, regardless of their specialty, is to use science to prove or disprove individuals’ statements or events that occurred in the commission of a crime,” she explains. “For crime scene work, it is really is an exercise in extremes and unique situations. As the state Crime Scene team, we have to be invited into investigate the crime; therefore, most of our crime scenes are death investigations.”
Seehafer explains that her career has been glamorized by television, and even though it’s extremely rewarding, it requires long hours, and “no one is going to get rich being a forensic scientist,” she says.
“Crime can’t be solved in a matter of hours with forensic science,” she adds. “It is a systematic scientific evaluation of the evidence. Unlike the TV shows, I don’t get to take a gun with me or have a badge. I don’t interview suspects. The only time I see suspects is if I need to process their body at a crime scene or in court. We can’t go rogue, like most forensic science shows. We have to have extremely tight regulations for our science to be admissible for court. Therefore, every technique used is heavily validated prior to use in forensic science, which I usually helping with for our section. Every new and exciting science technique reported in the news can’t just be used in forensics without prior extensive testing.”
Sabrina is assigned anywhere from 15 to 35 cases a month from various types of crime, she examines each case and develops DNA profiles the evidence with a four step process. “Forensic DNA analysis like most of forensic science is comparing a known sample to the unknown sample left at the crime scene. Once a DNA profile is developed it is compared to determine if the profile can be sourced to an individual or eligible for database upload. All forensic DNA data is reviewed by another qualified analyst and a report is issued. If the case proceeds through the court system, I can be called to court to testify to my findings,” she admits.
While she accepts many aspects of her job as routine, the general public probably cannot say they’ve had these situations she lists under their belts, though. “I have been called to a crime scene for just a few body parts. I also worked a crime scene in a grocery store, but didn’t tell them to turn off the speaker system. Therefore, I always think of that scene when I hear their catchy jingle. Other interesting pIaces that I’ve worked a crime scene are a porn store/theatre and a strip club. I have also been up for 38 hours for my job. Not advised, but I call it training for big horse shows,” she quips.
Yet, she somehow manages to show her horse, Stifler with the help of her sister, Megan Seehafer, and her trainers, Kendra and Blake Weiss. “My sister and I usually have our game plan for the whole show year in February, which allows me to change my Crime Scene on call schedule, and my work calendar to request all my vacation days needed very early in the year. So far, all the attorneys I have worked with in my cases have been flexible so I can make it to all my shows. Although, I have had crime scene callouts and court result in a few close calls that have had me driving into the show late the night before. Thankfully, my sister has Stifler prepped and he really does try his hardest on days when I might not be at my best. At the end of a hard week or challenging case/crime scene, there is nothing like spending grooming, riding, and just hanging out with him.”
These exhibitors often face challenges that many of us can’t imagine in between shows, so our hat is off to them for their incredible skills and noble careers. Don’t miss the second part of this GoHorseShow.com series on other fascinating and quite out of the ordinary jobs held by our fellow competitors, as we feature some incredible minds.
